Accessory rim with dental bite correlator and impression aid

ABSTRACT

An accessory rim with dental bite correlator and impression aid comprising a main rim and an accessory rim detachably connected to the main rim with the main rim having a base plate bracket that can be secured to an upper base plate, a sideward axle, rotatable about its own axis, the sideward axle being rotatably secured to a strap that is adjustably held on the main rim, a longitudinal axle fixedly secured to the sideward axle with the base plate bracket being pivotally secured to the longitudinal axle. The impression aid of the present invention is placed between a conventional impression tray and the opposing jaw with the patient being instructed to close his mouth. The presence of the impression aid permits the patient to retain the impression tray in the mouth for as long as it is required by the impression material and avoids the necessity of the dentist to maintain the impression tray in position. The impression aid comprises a first rim with a ball-shaped protuberance and a second rim having a handle and a socket that receives the ball-shaped protuberance of the first rim.

United States Patent Jarvis Dec. 24, 1974 ACCESSORY RIM WITH DENTAL BITE CORRELATOR AND IMPRESSION AID [76] Inventor: Edward C. Jarvis, 201 Meeting House Ln., Merion Station, Pa. 19066 [22] Filed: June 6, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 368,417

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 241,170, April 5, 1972,

abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl. 32/17 [51] Int. Cl. A616 9/00 [58] Field of Search 32/17 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,113,090 10/1914 Bell 32/17 3,579,832 5/1971 Cooper 32/17 Primary ExaminerRobert Peshock Attorney, Agent, or FirmCaesar, Rivise, Bernstein &

, Cohen [57] ABSTRACT An accessory rim with dental bite correlator and impression aid comprising a main rim and an accessory rim detachably connected to the main rim with the main rim having a base plate bracket that can be secured to an upper base plate, a sideward axle, rotatable about its own axis, the sideward axle being rotatably secured to a strap that is adjustably held on the main rim, a longitudinal axle fixedly secured to the sideward axle with the base plate bracket being pivotally secured to the longitudinal axle.

The impression aid of the present invention is placed between a conventional impression tray and the opposing jaw with the patient being instructed to close his mouth. The presence of the impression aid permits the patient to retain the impression tray in the mouth for as long as it is required by the impression material and avoids the necessity of the dentist to maintain the impression tray in position. The impression aid comprises a first rim with a ball-shaped protuberance and a second rim having a handle and a socket that receives the ball-shaped protuberance of the first rim.

2 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures ACCESSORY RIM WITH DENTAL BITE CORRELATOR AND IMPRESSION AID This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 241,170, filed Apr. 5, 1972 and now abandoned.

This invention relates to an accessory rim with dental bite correlator and impression aid, and more particularly to a new and improved device. In particular, the invention relates to a device which facilitates the precise recording of the exact anatomical relationship of the upper and lower jaws of a patient.

More particularly the present invention relates to a device which accomplishes the transferral of the foregoing relationship to an articulating device so that a set of artificial dentures may possess a balanced occlusion.

Accordingly it follows that the present invention has as its primary objective the establishment of the patients correct bite and relationship of the upper and lower jaws in centric position just as he had before with his own teeth. This is known as the centric relation.

It is of great significance in the art of artificial dentures that considerable amount of work, measurements, etc. must be done against soft tissues which are compressible and easily distorted. Hence the most direct method of obtaining the centric relation has proved to be often misleading and unreliable.

The direct method generally comprises fitting the upper jaw with a bite block adjusted to proper dimensions. A lower bite block is inserted with wax rims softened by heat and the patient is instructed to close his mouth. The bite blocks are united at this time and then appropriately mounted in an articulator and the teeth set up in this relationship.

This direct technique has proved, however, to be inadequate because regardless of the softness of the heated wax, it is still resistant enough to create unequal pressures which are not discernible to the dentist because of the compressibility and easy distortion of the underlying soft tissues. In this manner the patients own bite is employed to distort the relationship of the bite blocks with the resultant improper occlusal balance. This is so often readily apparent when the finished dentures are inserted and noted to occlude incorrectly.

In any event balanced occlusion is absolutely necessary for natural function with a minimum of pain and a maximum of comfort for the patient.

Toward this end various mechanical devices have been introduced to achieve balanced occlusion. These devices have, however, proved to be awkward and generally disruptive of the natural bite so as either to interfere with the relaxation of the tongue and throat muscles or to distort the normal bite by creating unequal pressures in the mouth. Still other devices have been outside the mouth thereby creating an unbalanced weight to distort soft tissues.

In US. Pat. No. 3,066,414 there was disclosed a device which achieved the foregoing objectives by providing a dental bite correlator which included a U-shaped bite adjuster rim which was attached to the upper jaw base plate and which was capable of being tipped to either side or backwardly or forwardly in accordance with the centric relation" to obtain balanced occlusion. These tipping actions were achieved by a sideward bridge pivotally secured at each end thereof to a U-shaped adjuster rim (backward and forward tipping) and by a base plate bracket which was pivotally secured to the sideward bridge and fixedly secured to the exposed central area of the upper jaw base plate. Means were also provided to facilitate the marking of the centric relation and also for locking the bite adjuster rim in a given position.

The present invention constitutes an improvement over the foregoing structure by providing an adjustable relationship of parts and greater latitude in functioning.

In particular, the present invention provides a main rim and an accessory rim that is detachably connected to the main rim with the main rim having a base plate bracket which can be secured to an upper base plate. There is provided a sidward axle that is rotatable about its own axis, with the sideward axle being rotatably secured to a strap that is adjustably held on the main rim. A longitudinal axle is fixedly secured to the sideward axle with the base plate bracket being pivotally secured to the longitudinal axle.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view showing the main rim and accessory rim held together and affixed to an upper jaw base plate;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the parts shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view showing the main rim of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the accessory rim and related parts of the present invention installed in the mouth of a patient; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the accessory rim of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a three dimensional view of an impression aid embodying the invention;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the impression aid of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are plan views of the second rim of the impression aid of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the lines 10 10 of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a partial sectional view showing the impression aid of FIG. 6 installed in the jaws of a patient.-

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like parts, an accessory rim with dental bite correlator constituting an embodiment of the present invention is generally shown at 10 in FIG. 1. Base 10 basically comprises accessory rim 12 which is adapted to be detachably secured to main rim 13 that in turn may be secured to upper base plate 14 through base plate bracket 16. This connection is made through sideward axle 18 to which is fixedly secured longitudinal axle 19 (FIG. 2). As also shown in FIG. 2 the accessory rim 12 has a planar base 20 which is to conform the disposition of the configuration of the lower jaw 15 (FIG. 4). Front portion 23 of the base 20 is complementary to the front teeth of the lower jaw 15 and side arms 24 of the base 20 are complementary to the sides of the lower jaw 15.

As best seen in FIG. 2 the accessory rim 12 further includes front pin 26 and side pins 28 that are received respectively in elongated slot 30 and round openings 32 in a manner to be described hereinafter.

The main rim 13 is also generally U-shaped and further possesses elongated slots 34 which allow the adjustment of cross piece 36. It will be seen that bolts 38 pass through the slots 34 of the main rim 13 and are then received in openings 40 in the cross piece 36.

As further seen in FIG. 2, the cross piece 36 includes ears 42 having openings 44 which allow the pivotal mounting of sideward axle 18.

Finally, again with reference to FIG. 2, it will be seen that longitudinal axle 19 is welded or otherwise fixedly secured to the sideward axle 18. The longitudinal axle 19 is received loosely in openings 48 of the base plate bracket 16 so that the base plate bracket 16 is pivotally mounted with respect to the cross piece 36.

It can further be seen from FIG. 2 that the main rim l3 possesses a lateral threaded opening that receives adjustment screw 52. The opening 50 passes into the slot 30 so that the threaded stem of the adjustment screw 52 can pass into the slot 30 to bear against pin 26 of the accessory rim 12. In this way the accessory rim 12 can be mounted in a variable way with respect to the main rim 13. This occurs since pin 28 of the accessory rim 12 are received in openings 32 in the main rim 13. The pin 26 of the accessory rim 12 is received in the slot 30, and the adjustment screw 52 bears against the pin 26. In this way the spacing between the accessory rim 12 in the main rim 13 can be maintained at any desired level up to the height of the pins 26 and 28.

The assembled device can be seen in FIG. 1 wherein the main rim l3 possesses notches 22 to assist the dentist in marking the precise occlusion of the upper and lower jaws.

In operation, device is affixed to upper jaw base 14 as shown in FIG. 1. The side arms of the accessory rim 12 may conform with the lower jaws to effect balanced occlusion or to achieve the proper centric relation. Should one ridge of the lower jaw be higher than the other ridge, accessory rim 12 may tip sidewardly about longitudinal axle 19 so that the upper denture when made will conform with the lower jaw to correct centric relation. Likewise, the front of the lower jaw may be higher than the rear thereof. In this situation accessory rim 12 may tip rearwardly about sideward axle 18 to achieve balanced occlusion. Similarly, the present device will quickly achieve an even undistorted adaptation of the upper device to the lower bite block at every point of contact and biting pressure will be natural and distributed in a natural manner to achieve the proper centric relation."

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the device 10 can measure the rest position of the mandible in relation to the upper jaw. The accessory rim 12 is used for the purpose of getting the freeway space after the bite has been obtained. This will enable the determination of a certain relationship in the mouth.

The details of the impression aid device are shown in FIGS. 6 to 11. It will be seen that the impression aid comprises a first rim 102 and a second rim 104. The first rim 102 has a ball-shaped protuberance 106 whereas the second rim 104 has a handle 108 and the socket 110 that receives the protuberance 106.

The use of the device 100 is seen in FIG. 11 wherein the impression tray 112 has been placed in the mouth. The impression aid device 100 is then placed between the impression tray 112 and the opposing jaw as shown in FIG. 11. The patient is instructed to close his mouth. This permits the patient to retain the impression tray in the mouth for as long as is required by the impression material and obviates the need for the dentist himself to maintain the tray in position. It will be seen that the ball and socket coupling is used to obtain the universal movement instead of the axles 18 and 19 of FIGS. 1 to 5.

It will be further appreciated that the device 100 can be used interchangeably for both upper and lower jaw impressions.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention, that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. An impression aid for insertion between a conventional impression tray and the opposing jaw of a patient,

said impression aid comprising a first rim and second rim, said rims having an outer arcuate edge conforming to the shape of the inside of the mouth, said first rim having a ball shaped protuberance extending therefrom, said protuberance being so located so as to maintain the spacing between said rims, said second rim having a socket extending therefrom, said socket receiving said protuberance in a rotatable manner, and a handle extending from one said rims, said impression aid permitting the patient to retain the impression tray in the mouth for as long as is required by the impression material and eliminating the need for the dentist himself to maintain the tray in position.

2. The impression aid of claim-1 having outer waffled surface formations for frictional engagement purposes. 

1. An impression aid for insertion between a conventional impression tray and the opposing jaw of a patient, said impression aid comprising a first rim and second rim, said rims having an outer arcuate edge conforming to the shape of the inside of the mouth, said first rim having a ball shaped protuberance extending therefrom, said protuberance being so located so as to maintain the spacing between said rims, said second rim having a socket extending therefrom, said socket receiving said protuberance in a rotatable manner, and a handle extending from one said rims, said impression aid permitting the patient to retain the impression tray in the mouth for as long as is required by the impression material and eliminating the need for the dentist himself to maintain the tray in position.
 2. The impression aid of claim 1 having outer waffled surface formations for frictional engagement purposes. 